“She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7 NIV)

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:10-11 NIV)

For the weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving, my family and I went to New York State, and though the weekend was meant to spend time giving thanks, our experiences made us think more of Christmas!

Here’s how.

The poor clerk at the desk of our hotel had her hands full when we entered to check in. The phone was ringing off the hook, and besides having a receiver glued to her ear, she also had several phone calls on hold. Even if she had been an octopus, she wouldn’t have had enough hands to accommodate everyone! (And likely, we wouldn’t have wanted to stay where the desk clerk was an octopus!)

After finishing with two very long calls, she began putting any incoming calls on hold so that she could register us. The only problem was that she was interrupted from our registration every 30 seconds to put yet another call on hold!

Although it seemed like we were waiting a very long time, the clerk’s look of genuine concern for us, along with her many profuse apologies, made the waiting bearable. After all, one doesn’t mind waiting a bit longer when the one you are waiting for actually seems to care!

The next people in line weren’t as lucky as we were. They didn’t have a reservation, and they were only able to book one night as the hotel was fully booked for the next day. This is when my mind started to make a parallel between our situation and Jesus’ birth: “No room in Bethlehem for you!”

Although we felt very fortunate to have a room for two nights, and also to have finally been able to check in, we soon discovered that our room was less than optimal. Our first discovery was the safe. Not that we planned to use it. After all, any possible intruder would likely not have wanted to steal our clothes. But for whatever reason, it was locked, and the sign posted on the safe indicated that if we checked out of the hotel without unlocking it, we would have a modest charge added to our credit card. Previous experience had taught us that an “it was locked when we arrived” attitude would not remove such a charge.

After going out shopping for an hour, (the poor receptionist was still up to her elbows in phone calls and customers when we left!) We stopped at the desk to ask for help. The phones were finally quiet, and she was very sweet about the whole thing. She even came to our room with a special unlocking safe device, or whatever you call that thing.

Unfortunately it was broken, and she had to go for another one. As we waited in our room, we received a phone call: “The other device is broken as well,” the receptionist announced. “I am so sorry. I will make sure you won’t be charged for the safe.” That’s really all we wanted anyway, as we still weren’t worried about our clothing being kidnapped!

The next thing we noticed in our room was that a red light was relentlessly blinking on our phone. Normally this meant we had a message, but after fiddling with the phone for half-an-hour, no message was forth coming. The clerk again came to our rescue and successfully removed the blinking light. Only to have it reappear unannounced at 4:00 A.M! Nothing is more comforting than to have a red light blink at you while you sleep, if you know what I mean!

Then there was the spot light just outside our window, which the curtains did nothing to block out. Its purpose? To illuminate the hotel’s name on the side of the building. So basically, we had a blinking red light on one side, and a spotlight on the other! No wonder we dreamed we were in the middle of a soccer game! At least there were no touch downs!

Then there was the toilet that seemed to think it needed to plug up for no reason each time it was flushed … In the end, the clerk gave us our own plunger …

The rooms other many problems didn’t bother us as much. So what if the ceiling was peeling off in the bathroom? Who cared if the bed skirt was torn or the toilet paper rack was coming off? But there was just one more little annoyance …

When we returned to our hotel the next day after visiting the former home of George Eastman, founder of Kodak, we were greeted by a rather unusual note under our door: “Sorry Folks, we have not made up your room. We do not clean a room when a “Do Not Disturb” notice has been left on your door.”

We stared at each other: What “Do Not Disturb” notice? Just to make sure we had no memory loss, we checked our door, and sure enough, the “Do Not Disturb” sign was hanging from the inside of the door, not the outside!

Once again the receptionist apologized profusely and brought us some clean towels. The room, however, was left in its messy state, with dirty towels under the sink, unmade beds, and garbage cans that were overflowing. But at least it was our own mess and not that of someone else. We could live with that!

It sure makes a difference when people treat us with kindness instead of indifference! But with the exception of some God-fearing shepherds who were in the neighbourhood, poor baby Jesus wasn’t even permitted this luxury when He arrived on our planet!

Any situation, no matter how good or bad, can be met with a smile as long as others are kind to us. Wouldn’t it be something if we were kind to others as well? What kind of message would we be broadcasting! After all, isn’t Jesus’ example of kindness, taking us out of our grim lives on this earth and making us His own brothers and sisters in His kingdom, enough? This is why He came to us: to let us experience true living! Not the hectic busy-buddy lifestyle we seem to absorb by our environment. Take the time to experience Him in your life and before you know it, kindness will pour forth from you as well! Jesus’ kindness is catchy!

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col 3:12 NIV)

“You want a room in this decrepit place? Are you sure? You would be better off sleeping in your car. It’s much safer!”

“A stable will suffice. Thank you!”

Rob Chaffart

(To view the entire “Nairobi, Here I Come!” devotional series, please click here.)